


Nights Like Honey

by Auggusst



Series: Heart and Mind [11]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 6 months pregnant, Alpha James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Insomnia, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Mpreg, Nightmares, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Platonic Cuddling, Pregnant Tony Stark, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Uncle James "Rhodey" Rhodes, baby kicks, friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24156178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auggusst/pseuds/Auggusst
Summary: 6 months into his pregnancy, Tony's finding it a little hard to sleep. With the past and future heavy on his mind, in addition to his physical changes and the creeping hold of Bond Sickness, cuddling with his best friend is sometimes the only way to get some rest. Rhodey, of course, never minds.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Heart and Mind [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670740
Comments: 33
Kudos: 286





	Nights Like Honey

**Author's Note:**

> Quick reminder that I do write out of order! Just makes it easier for me. There will be some stuff that comes directly after the last fic I posted, but for now, this moment jumped out at me and I had to write it. Something a little sweeter, at least :)

Rhodey’s arms around him were safe and warm and familiar. He smelled a little like honey, hence the long standing nickname Honeybear, and Tony drank in that scent deeply now, heaved a sigh.

It wasn’t the scent he was craving. It wasn’t the calm and clean, strong and perfect tailor-made scent to fill him with completion, to turn his head and make everything fade away, but it was still good. He would have to settle for it now, and maybe forever.

He missed Steve. He missed him so much it hurt. He missed his smile, his laugh, the way he spoke his name. He missed the feeling of his mate’s arms around him, or the way he’d growl, low and content, whenever Tony pressed a kiss to his bond mark. He missed the blue of his eyes.

He missed sleeping without nightmares, in the circle of Steve’s grasp, feeling utterly perfect, like nothing could ever go wrong.

He was still mad, despite all of that.

Tony was pushing 24 weeks now, (17 weeks without Steve, his brain unhelpfully supplied) and if it wasn’t clear he was pregnant before, it was clear now. Alongside the _obvious_ baby bump (a little bigger than he was expecting with still three months to go, but there was nothing to be done except resign himself to the fact he’d end up looking like a goddamn blimp) he had more than a little pelvic pain on and off during the day. It was either due to his increasing weight or the fact that his baby (a boy, he’d found out) had grown used to treating his womb like a play pen quite quickly. There were plenty of problems that came with it, with pregnancy in general, and it was kind of frustrating, honestly.

He was starting to need help getting out of chairs, had to pee _constantly_ , and his activity in the lab had naturally been limited (not just because of physical limitations, but there were a lot of substances he regularly worked with that he had to avoid now). All of that, on top of the goddamn loneliness, the ache that was becoming harder and harder to ignore, had him in less than an ideal mood most of the time. He was quick to cry, which he _hated_ , and did his best to keep up a mask, but it wasn’t hard to look through.

Most unfortunately, his Bond Sickness was starting to kick in. He was always cold, couldn’t seem to get warm, and was constantly achy. It was hard to sleep, and he had the sniffles, which never seemed to go away. His neck was so tender he could hardly stand to touch it sometimes, and took to icing it occasionally, to try and dull the heat. On occasion, he was dizzy, kind of fuzzy-headed, which he argued was a natural side effect of pregnancy, but that everyone knew came from the way he was feeling, a disorientation of soul that they were sure was echoed on Steve’s side. Tony often tried to downplay it, tried not to let on to Pep and Rhodey how bad it really was, but he couldn’t hide the truth from his health caretakers.

He’d diverted some of the onsite staff to other locations, lended them out to the UN in an effort to placate the makers of the Accords, and to ensure his own privacy. After catching one traitor, he didn’t want to deal with any more. The medical staff at the Compound had been reduced to about ten people, and Tony _carefully_ monitored them now. He wasn’t the kind to repeat a mistake. His weekly visits afforded him ongoing advice, which he took for the most part, save the most obvious.

He was fine, really. He could handle it. He’d had worse, had survived worse, and would survive this too. He could handle the physical symptoms with relative ease(not according to others of course), but most annoyingly, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was _off_ , that things weren’t right, and it put him on edge occasionally. He was getting a little paranoid, honestly, about himself, and others, and especially Steve. He supposed that was normal, given his current vulnerability, but he hated it.

It took a lot of strength not to reach out, not to ask where he was, or how he was doing, like everyone suggested. Sometimes Tony couldn’t help it, would send a single text and watch the response come in. He usually ignored it, but it made it better somehow, knowing that Steve was well enough to reply to him. Sometimes he wanted to bite the bullet and call, to hear Steve’s voice, to let him say what he wanted to say.

Everyone _wanted_ him to call. What could come of it though? Secretary Ross was on high alert, and Steve’s team had been spotted in a few places over the last few weeks. Ross seemed intent on trying to get Tony to agree to his bribery plan, had sent a few variations of the plan for his approval, but Tony sure as hell wouldn’t concede. If Steve got himself caught, that was one thing, but Tony would have _no_ hand in doing the catching.

He still worried, especially, about the repercussions for refusing to submit to the will of the UN, but thus far, none had come for him. He tried not to think about any of it. He tried not to think about Steve at all, or how much he missed him, and shot down any suggestion of reaching out properly. Hell, Steve didn’t even know about the baby yet. Tony meant to tell him, eventually, but the longer time went on, the more afraid he was to admit it. What could he say?

“Hey, I don’t really wanna talk to you, but FYI, you knocked me up before you pummeled me into dust and left me high and dry! Now you’re on the other side of the world, and I’m here carrying our child! Funny huh?”

That didn’t exactly sound right.

How would Steve react to the news anyway? Would he be happy? Would he be _angry_? No, he couldn’t be angry. They’d wanted kids eventually, after all. They simply never thought it was really possible with the way their lives worked. What would Steve say now, knowing Tony was carrying his child, when there was no way to be together, at least not without heavy losses on either side? Steve would have to agree to whatever terms Ross and his associates deemed appropriate, would have to sacrifice his freedom, his morals, for even a chance at getting back here. Tony didn’t know if the blond was willing to do that, or if he should, and the thought of finding out Steve’s choice terrified him. Tony considered himself brave, had done and risked things that most others wouldn’t consider, but he wasn’t brave in this, in the possibility of setting it all in motion. He couldn’t do it.

Rhodey thought he was being stupid. He knew that things couldn’t return to the way they were, that the Accords and the actions of Steve’s team caused more problems than they could presently solve, but he could see the deterioration in Tony’s mood, and, more increasingly, his health, and he was sure it was going to drive him nuts. Tony’s last checkup even indicated a swift drop in his hormone levels, which could be disastrous if they couldn’t get a handle on it, and he’d been given some medicine to counteract it.

The message was clear though: he needed to fix himself, fix his relationship, or things would simply get worse.

Rhodey’s suggestions of reaching out, of at least _telling_ Steve about the baby, were routinely shut down, and whenever it turned into an actual argument, Tony started crying (Rhodey was starting to think the brunet had mastered weaponizing his tears) and he had to accept he lost the argument. He loved Tony too much to cause him anymore stress, especially when it was his job to keep him happy, to keep him safe.

Still, something had to be done soon, he knew. There was no way around it, and all of Tony’s procrastination couldn’t change it. Maybe Pepper could convince him to act. Maybe it would take both of them to finally get Tony to see sense. He wasn’t sure.

It was around 3AM when he heard a little knock, and then his bedroom door open. Rhodey had always been a light sleeper, despite his time in the military(he’d never quite been able to sleep through noise like his fellow airmen), so it woke him immediately. A quick sniff told him it was Tony at the door(as if it would be anyone else) and Rhodey brushed a hand over his eyes, flicked on the lamp on his nightstand to the lowest setting.

The misery was clear on the brunet’s face even in the low light. He was clinging to the oversized hoodie he’d taken to sleeping in lately, one of Steve’s if Rhodey remembered correctly, and he just looked exhausted. He may have been crying, if the redness on his cheeks said anything, and the sight made Rhodey’s heart clench.

Tony looked so small like this, so vulnerable, like nights back at MIT, when he had a lesser sense of self-worth and got himself into horrible situations, when he needed Rhodey to pick up the pieces. Tony had stood there in a similar fashion more than once back then, and although he was older now, and the situation was different, it filled Rhodey with a painful sense of déjà vu.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, as if it were even a question.

Tony nodded. “He won’t stop moving,” he replied.

It wasn’t entirely a lie; his baby had been wildly active tonight, which made it hard to fall asleep in the first place. It was nightmares, actually, that disturbed Tony enough for him to swallow his pride and slip down the hall to Rhodey’s room. After trying, and failing to get back to sleep three times, he simply couldn’t take it anymore.

In addition to his regular nightmares, there were a few new contenders, amalgamations of the things he’d experienced, and the fears he now had. They were kind of intense, honestly, left his heard pounding and head reeling. More than once he couldn’t hold back the tears, cried into his pillow until he could get a hold on it. He normally tried to handle these things himself, insisted he was okay, but sometimes it just got to be too much. Sometimes he needed to be held, to feel safe.

 _‘That’s why Rhodey’s here,’_ he had to remind himself, walking down the hall. _‘He’s here for you.’_

The airman had made more use of his bedroom in the Compound in the last few months than he had the last two years. Rhodey didn’t quite enjoy communal living after years in the military, even if everyone had their own space, and so he only stayed at the Compound when he was needed really. Now, he’d taken the time to make his room here feel more like home, since he’d be living here pretty much permanently. He would always be here, if Tony needed him, and that extended to his future child.

All things aside, he was kind of excited for the baby to be born. Although the thought of a potential second Tony was a little terrifying, he was sure any kid of Tony’s would be horribly smart, and beautiful, and far too easy to love.

Rhodey looked at Tony now, took in the state of him, the unhappy twinge to his sweet scent that was more common than not nowadays, and scooted over on his bed. “Come here,” he said, holding out his arms.

Tony visibly sagged in relief, and made his way across the bedroom. It took him a minute to climb on the bed, cradling his belly, and then he wormed his way under the covers, and tucked himself into Rhodey’s side. It was a little difficult to find a position that worked, with his stomach getting in the way, but he managed. Tony rested his head in the crook of his best friend’s neck. Rhodey’s hand settled on his back, rubbed it softly.

Rhodey wanted to say something. He wanted to ask Tony for the truth, for the real reason he’d decided to come here tonight. It wasn’t that out of the ordinary, really, happened once a week or so, but Tony was never honest about the reason. Maybe it wasn’t all that complicated. Maybe he was just sick of being alone, needed to be held, or maybe there was something more, something the brunet was hiding, that he felt like he couldn’t say, or didn’t _want_ to say. Tony had never been entirely honest about his emotions, about his suffering, which drove his friend up the wall, but that was who he was. Even when he’d been dying a few years ago, he pushed them all away, tried to make it seem like he was an asshole instead, hoping they wouldn’t miss him as much when he was gone.

Rhodey wished he could fix it all. He wished he could take on the government, the Accords, the whole goddamn UN. He wished he could scream in Rogers’ face, that he had gone looking for him after it all, and beat the hell out of him. Things could be so different now, if the man had just used his _brain_. He could still be able to _walk_ , for one, but more than that. Tony could be happy right now, and everyone could be together, instead of this fractured mess.

It was hard not to be bitter. It was hard to keep himself in check, whenever he sat by Tony as he was bent over the toilet vomiting, or the handful of days where he was too tired to even get out of bed, and Rhodey and Pepper took turns coaxing him into at least moving to the living room, to try and start the day. The _bruises_ he’d had, the way he looked when he came back from Siberia….

Tony had been through so much, and it hurt, really. It hurt that someone Tony, and Rhodey himself, had trusted to love him, to keep him safe, had fucked up so spectacularly, had ruined things for everyone. It hurt more knowing that Tony _needed_ him, needed Steve, on an emotional, and biological level, and that nothing Rhodey could do would take that need away.

If only Tony weren’t so fucking _stubborn_. He could work it out, if he really tried. Maybe he and Steve could never be together again, but they could come to an understanding, for the sake of their baby. The brunet was unwilling to do that though. Part of Rhodey knew that maybe he’d have to do it for him, but he wasn’t relishing the idea.

He tried not to think about it now. It was late, and he had flown a mission two days ago, still had the bruise on his cheek to prove it. He much preferred being here, at Tony’s side, even if it was more taxing emotionally. Sleeping was the best thing to do.

Tony was warm under his arms now, but the way he trembled said he was feeling chilly again. Rhodey sighed softly, pulled the blankets around them a little closer. “You alright?” he asked.

The other Alpha sighed, brought up a hand to rub at his tired eyes. He shrugged. “I just…I didn’t want to be alone,” he replied.

“You don’t have to be,” Rhodey said. “You used to sleep in my bed a lot more than this. I don’t mind, really.”

“I’m not annoying you at all?” Tony asked, tilting his head back to get a good look at his friend’s face. He was afraid of annoying _everybody_ at this point. He needed constant attention, and although they seemed content to provide it, it only added to his guilt, to his irritation. Why couldn’t he just handle things himself? Why did he have to rely on others so much?

Rhodey brought his hand up, brushed it through the brunet’s bed-messy curls. “You’re constantly annoying. You’re the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met, and have been from day one,” he replied. “But that doesn’t mean it _bothers_ me. If it did, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Tony hummed a little at that, tried taking his words to heart. They did make him feel a little better. The smallest of smiles settled on his face. “Love you, Honeybear.”

“Love you too, Tones.”

“I’ll tell you what I _don’t_ love though,” Tony sighed, squirming a little on the bed. “Being used as a goddamn punching bag.”

Rhodey snorted, glanced down at his belly. “He’s not sleeping either, huh?”

“Are you kidding me? Kid’s been moving around non-stop for the last four hours. I don’t know what to do,” Tony admitted, rubbing a hand over the crest of his abdomen. He hummed a little, felt movement under his palm. “Ah! There he goes again.”

Rhodey exhaled in amusement. “Well, with you for a mother, I’m not surprised the kid’s refusing to sleep. How many times have I had to practically strap you down in bed?”

“It sounds kinky when you say it like that,” Tony replied, grinning.

Rhodey sighed, shook his head. “Remind me why I put up with you?”

“I’ve got no idea, actually,” Tony said. “Lapse in judgment?”

“For 30 years?”

The brunet shrugged. “Could be. Okay, _that_ one sucked— How is he so strong already? Or am I just that weak?” He shifted a little, tried to get comfortable.

“I mean, look who his parents are,” Rhodey replied. “Any kid of yours wouldn’t be a wimp.”

“Thanks…” Tony sighed. “You wanna feel? It’s super weird.”

The question took Rhodey back a little. It wasn’t often that Tony let anyone touch his belly, not even him or Pepper. He was understandably protective, especially without his mate around. Alpha Carriers were naturally more private when it came to their pregnancies. He supposed it was something evolutionary. Alphas had more challenges to deal with, and were protectors, not protectees, like the other designations were. Of course that was centuries ago, and things were a lot different now, but still. Maybe the instinct remained.

His suggestion, his permission to touch, made Rhodey feel warm. It made him feel proud, knowing that Tony trusted him with this. “Yeah,” he replied, nodding a little.

Tony pulled up his hoodie, straightened the tank top he was wearing underneath. He grabbed Rhodey’s hand. “Here,” he said, adjusting his friend’s palm so it was spread over the side of his belly. “It’s like he can’t get comfortable. That makes two of us, I guess. Give it a second…”

They waited. At first, Rhodey wasn’t sure anything would happen. The seconds stretched on, and Tony sighed softly, pursed his lips. Rhodey was about to draw back, but then he could feel it, could feel the pressure under his fingers, a little ripple of movement.

“Woah,” he gasped softly.

Tony let out a little laugh. “It’s weird, right? Been happening for like a week now. Before that, I couldn’t feel much, just like, I dunno, a little flutter I guess. But now, it’s stronger.”

“Totally weird,” Rhodey agreed. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like. It was no wonder Tony had a hard time falling asleep. Rhodey couldn’t handle so much as an itch on his arm without scratching it. Dealing with random, uncontrollable movements like this seemed impossible. Plenty of people went through it though. It was normal.

Either way, Rhodey was glad he wasn’t a Carrier. He didn’t think he’d like dealing with it.

He yawned, drew his hand back and stretched a little. “What’s say we try to sleep now? I’m pretty tired,” he admitted.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, pulling his hoodie back down. He tipped his head down to his shoulder, inhaled softly. It didn’t really smell like Steve anymore, just barely did. He’d worn it too often, and now his own scent was rubbing off on it. That made his heart ache a little, but he tried to ignore it.

 _‘Don’t think about it,’_ he told himself. _‘Don’t think about him.’_

Rhodey leaned over the bed and turned off the lamp. He laid back, got comfortable, and pulled Tony close again. The brunet swung a hand over his midsection, as if he were an overgrown teddy-bear, and closed his eyes.

“Sleep sounds good,” Tony agreed. He didn’t know how easily it’d come, but he was more than willing to try. Sleeping with Rhodey had done the trick in the past. He had him here, and maybe it would be enough. He did feel exhausted, after all. His child had already stopped squirming as much, which gave him hope that he’d catch a break now.

“Don’t you dare wake me up before nine,” Rhodey joked, voice soft, and he wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulder.

Tony smiled softly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave your thoughts!! I love chatting with you all about this series!


End file.
